The present invention relates to apparatus and a method for monitoring strain and/or load applied to the body of a vertebral mammal. The present invention is particularly suitable for monitoring strain and/or load applied to the back of the mammal including the lumbar spine and it will be described herein in this context. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that the present invention is not thereby limited to such applications. In this document use of the words strain and/or load in relation to the body of a mammal includes a reference to movements, muscle forces and loads including gravitational loads acting on the body of the mammal.
Preventing back injuries presents a major workplace safety challenge. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics in the United States, more than one million workers suffer back injuries each year. Back injuries account for one in every five workplace injuries or illnesses. Moreover, one-quarter of compensation indemnity claims involve back injuries, costing industry billions of dollars on top of the pain and suffering borne by employees.
A documented cause of compensable workplace injuries is due to manual handling tasks such as lifting, placing, carrying, holding and lowering of materials. Statistics show that four out of five injuries are to the lower back and three out of four of such injuries occurred while an employee was lifting. One difficulty in preventing and/or treating lower back injury is due to a lack of facility to objectively measure movements and stresses placed on the lower back over time and therefore the risks that are associated with use of the lower back when undertaking a task or activity that presents a risk of injury.
The present invention may provide a mechanism for avoiding or at the very least minimizing incidence of back injuries and/or may assist rehabilitation of existing injuries by monitoring movements, associated muscle activities and loads experienced by the lumbar spine.
Because preventing a back injury is far preferable to repairing the injury, the present invention may monitor loads placed on a person's back while that person is undertaking a task or activity and may assess whether that load presents a risk of injury. The monitoring may be performed in real time to provide useful feedback to the person so that the person may modify a task or activity being undertaken in a manner that may reduce the load. This may lead to a reduction of the load and a consequent reduction in risk or occurrence of an injury.